Conservative Party of Kirlawa leadership election, 4059
Following the resignation and subsequent death of former leader Malagasy Thatcher, leadership elections for the Conservative Party of Kirlawa were held from March 4056 to December 4059. The election itself took place in the year 4059. 930,171 ballots were cast. Background Malagasy Thatcher had been slowly ageing since ending her life extension therapy in the early 4000s. She was President of Kirlawa from 4029 to 4056. In the January 4056 elections, Malagasy Thatcher came in third place in the first round of voting, thus denying her from acceding to the next round. As a result, she resigned as Leader of the Conservative Party of Kirlawa in March 4056. She has headed the party since 3785, with the exception of 3875 - 3910 when Malthus Mabella was leader. She soon died from old age in September, when hustings were underway. The Party's General Executive Committee called an emergency meeting on the day of the Presidential elections in which she had announced her intention to resign. The GEC voted 18-14 to trigger Article 86 of the Party Constitution (circa. 4050), which stated that, This effectively marked the start of the Leadership election for the Party. Election procedure The Conservative Party of Kirlawa formally created the Party Electoral Rules Committee, sometimes known as Committee 86 after the section in the Party Constitution it was located in, to create and execute the rules of procedure for a leadership election. As stipulated by the Committee, the leadership contest will span over a period of three and a half years. Nominations for the leadership election opened in April of 4056 and closed in December of 4056. Between April and December of 4056, potential candidates must register with the General Executive Committee of the Party to run as a candidate. Eligible candidates must meet the following criteria: *Has been a member of the Conservative Party of Kirlawa for at least five years, *Is a sitting member of the General Assembly for the term beginning in January of 4056, *Received assent from two members of the Parliamentary party, of whom they are bound to vote for the candidate in all ballots until eliminated. Following the nominations and after a period of hustings, ballots are held in the Parliamentary party to narrow the field of candidates to two. These two candidates will be presented to the general membership of the Party in a straight contest. Conservative Members of the General Assembly vote for their preferred candidate in each ballot, and the candidate with the lowest number of votes is eliminated from the subsequent round of balloting. AMs are free to switch between candidates in subsequent ballots; they are not bound to the candidate they had voted in the previous round. Prior to the final vote for the membership, members of the General Assembly could express their preferred candidate in a "Delegation Vote". Although the Delegation Vote is not counted in the final result and is not binding for Assembly members, it serves as an indicator of the Parliamentary preference for whichever candidate. If a candidate receives more than two-thirds of AMs' votes, the Party Electoral Rules Committee may unilaterally declare that individual the winner of the leadership election, thus nullifying the membership vote. The final vote for the membership takes place from March to June of 4059. The results are announced in June of 4059, and the winning candidate becomes the Leader of the Party immediately afterwards. Under the discretion of the GEC, the presidential candidate for the July 4059 elections will also be the Leader of the Party. Election timeline Note: ''Italics represents events which were unplanned/not part of the official PERC timeline. * March 4056: Leadership election is called by the General Executive Committee, in consultation with the Party Electoral Rules Committee * April 4056: Nominations for the leadership contest opens. * December 4056: Nominations for the leadership contest closes. * January 4057: Campaigning officially begins. Official opinion polls may now be conducted for the candidates. * September 4058: The first ballot of the Parliamentary Conservative Party is conducted. * November 4058: The second ballot of the Parliamentary Conservative Party is conducted. * December 4058: Gisela Guinness pulls out of the leadership contest. A fourth ballot is no longer required by the electoral procedure. * February 4059: The third ballot of the Parliamentary Conservative Party is conducted. * March 4059: Ballots are sent out to all eligible Conservative Party of Kirlawa members. * April 4059: The delegation vote of the Parliamentary Conservative Party is conducted. * June 4059: Ballots are sent to the Conservative Party of Kirlawa's official counting centres, and the final result of the leadership election is announced. Candidates Withdrew before contest Declined The following potential candidates declined to partake in the leadership contest. * Bernard Chin (Spokesperson for Internal Affairs) - Endorsed Benedict Cambridge. * Angus Pollux (Spokesperson for Finance; Party Treasurer) - Endorsed Gisela Guinness, then Benedict Cambridge * Margaret Roberts (Spokesperson for Defence) - Endorsed Alexander Magnum III * Jennifer Bowens (Spokesperson for Education and Culture) - Endorsed Rebecca Shimmerman, then Gisela Guinness, then Alexander Magnum III * Lauren Foster (Spokesperson for the Environment and Tourism) - Endorsed Rebecca Shimmerman, then Gisela Guinness, then Benedict Cambridge * Ayril Terren (Chief Whip) - No explicit endorsement * Ember Powell (Deputy Chief Whip) - Endorsed Rebecca Shimmerman, then Patrick O'Shaughnessy * Siani Gurangus (Leader of the Parliamentary Conservative Party) - No explicit endorsement Campaign Alexander Magnum III Alexander Magnum III sought to continue the direction of the Party under its previous leader, Malagasy Thatcher. He was a free-marketeer, socially liberal and fairly militarist in outlook. He is notably more pro-immigration and anti-surveillence than his predecessor, and also wishes to withdraw Kirlawa from legislatively-binding treaties, although not to the same extent as McIntyre and Guinness. However, he has been criticised for being young and inexperienced, and for continuing the "Magnum dynasty", as he is directly related to Alexander Magnum, the party's founder, and Alexander Magnum II, a previous Chairman. Benedict Cambridge Benedict Cambridge sought to shift the Conservative Party of Kirlawa to the centre. He feared that an "overly libertarian" Conservative Party would alienate traditional conservatives, who favoured socially conservative policies, and the working class, who wanted more regulations to be imposed on government. He is a "moderate Conservative" who differentiates himself from Magnum by emphasising on his humble roots, contrasting that to the privileged background of his opponent, who if elected would be the third Magnum to hold a leadership post within the Party. Paisley McIntyre Paisley McIntyre is a radical libertarian Conservative who wanted to accelerate efforts by the Conservatives to withdraw Kirlawa from legislatively-binding treaties. He is an avid believer in small government and wishes to simplify the tax code "down to three pages". He prides himself in being "anti-politically correct" and "stands for the working man". His flamboyant and sometimes controversial remarks helped create a support base unique to him. Gisela Guinness Gisela Guinness is a moderate Conservative who also wishes to further withdraw Kirlawa from legislatively-binding treaties. In contrast with Paisley McIntyre, Gisela Guinness promoted a "one nation Conservative government" with "emphasis on the working people and the poor". She gained traction within the Party for being a moderate but pro-treaty withdrawal candidate, but this support soon faded as the leadership contest wore on. She dropped out before the third ballot and endorsed Paisley McIntyre, citing "the need for a strong candidate to withdraw Kirlawa from further treaties" as her main reason for doing so. Patrick O'Shaughnessy Patrick O'Shaughnessy is a traditional Conservative who wants to move the Conservative Party of Kirlawa to the right in terms of social policy. He opposes abortion, supports the reintroduction of the death penalty, and wants to rein in the numbers of immigrants. A series of controversial and potentially xenophobic remarks marred his campaign early on, but he edged out Rebecca Shimmerman in the first round of ballots by one vote, due to his strong connections with other members in the Parliamentary party. Rebecca Shimmerman Rebecca Shimmerman is a liberal progressive Conservative who is an internationalist and an environmentalist. Unlike the other five candidates, she wants Kirlawa to stay in some legislatively-binding treaties. Her experience as Spokesperson for Foreign Affairs made her an early favourite in the contest, but her support waned as the race dragged on, and she lost to Patrick O'Shaughnessy on the first round of balloting by a single vote. Opinion polls Opinion polls were only conducted upon the closure of nominations. Results and Analysis The results of the Assembly Members' ballots were released on the first Tuesday of every other month, beginning in September. Following the withdrawal of Gisela Guinness in December 4059, the Third Ballot was conducted on February 4059 instead of January. The subsequent Delegation vote and Members' Vote were held on April 4059 and June 4059 respectively. The result of each individual ballot and the Delegation Vote was read out by the Parliamentary Returning Officer, McDonnell Curtice, while the membership vote was read out in Frimpton-on-Sea, Nuchtmark, at a special Party conference by the joint interim leaders of the Party. The membership vote delivered a fair victory for Alexander Magnum III, who polled 56% of the vote, to 44% of his direct challenger, Benedict Cambridge. However, the Delegation vote revealed a near-even split within the Party, where 86 Assembly members voted for Benedict Cambridge, compared to only 84 for Magnum. This was attributed to the movement of Paisley McIntyre's supporters, who rejected the "dynasterial politics" of Magnum and sought an anti-establishment candidate. Several Assembly members also switched their vote from Magnum to Cambridge after disenchantment with his campaign in the spring period, when a string of controversies erupted. Aftermath Alexander Magnum III was made Leader of the Conservative Party of Kirlawa in June 4059, one month before the General and Presidential elections. His installation as Leader came on the last day of the special Party conference held in June, and the day after the election results were announced. Kirlawa Elections of July 4059 Despite being in office for less than a month, the Conservative Party under Alexander Magnum III roughly maintained their share of the popular vote, surprising political analysts and betting markets. The relative inexperience of Magnum III, combined with a polarised Parliamentary party, were believed to reduce the Party's seat tally from 170 to 120. Instead, the Party gained two seats from 170 to 172, and came in first in Merkan. In the presidential elections, Alexander Magnum III came in second during the first round of voting. In the second round, Alexander Magnum III beat his direct opponent by a margin of 55 to 45, and became President of Kirlawa beginning July 4059. This was the fastest amount of time a Conservative Party leader managed to get elected to the post of the Presidency since his/her ascension as Leader. Party split The results of the Delegation vote revealed a deep split within and between Party lines. Although several leadership election challengers have congratulated and endorsed Magnum III's victory as Leader, including Gisela Guinness, Rebecca Shimmerman and Patrick O'Shaughnessy, Paisley McIntyre remained adamantly opposed to the result, calling it a "disaster for democracy" and "spells the end of our Party". His comments were met with sharp criticism from many of Magnum's supporters and other Assembly members, who denounced it as provocative, divisive and ill-conceived. Fears of a second election mounted against Magnum grew when it emerged that a team of Parliamentary backbenchers, headed by Paisley McIntyre, were looking for a parliamentarian to oppose Magnum as a dark horse candidate. Benedict Cambridge ruled himself out at this stage and endorsed Magnum as Leader of the Party. Many of Cambridge's supporters also announced their congratulations to Magnum, although some were believed to be involved in McIntyre's "plot". A second election never arose. During the shadow cabinet reshuffle of the Conservative Party, which took place days before the general election, Paisley McIntyre was sacked from his post as Spokesperson for Science and Technology. Two other spokespeople were sacked, although one claimed that it was for reasons "unrelated to the crisis sparked by McIntyre". McIntyre criticised Magnum for this move. Although McIntyre was reelected in the 4059 elections, he chose to resign from the Conservative Party and re-contest his seat in Dirguzia under the Independent banner. He lost his seat to the Conservative challenger. See also